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Pro-Axis Russians: Terrorists ... and Democratic Capitalists

David Storobin, Esq. - 5/9/2007

May 9 is a major holiday in Russia - Victory Day, celebrated the day after Nazi Germany surrendered. Recently, Estonia decided to take down a monument to Russian WWII soldiers, angering Moscow, which called Estonians Nazi-sympathizers because many Baltic people joined the invading German forces. And yet, thousands of Russians also fought in the pro-German Russian Liberation Army (ROA), Russian People's Liberation Army (RONA) and the 29th Russian Waffen SS division. Additionally, there was the 14th Waffen SS Division made up of Ukrainians, but it will not be discussed in this article.

RONA - Pro-German Russian Terrorists

The first pro-Axis Russian unit was known as RONA, a Russian acronym for Russian People's Liberation Army, established by Bronislav Kaminski, who was born in Russia to a Polish father and a German mother.

Kaminiski originally fought for the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, but became disillusioned with Communists when Stalin began confiscating private property. Criticism of collectivization landed Kaminski in jail for 5 years on charges of spying for Poland and Germany, making him an ardent supporter of regime change in the USSR. Another Soviet citizen opposing Communism was Constantine Voskoboinik, a former classmate of Kaminski. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the two men organized the "Briansk-Lokot Republic" under the protection of Germany with Voskoboinik at the top and Kaminiski as his deputy. In 1942, however, Voskoinik was killed by anti-Nazi Russian partisans and Kaminski became the leader of the army.

The new leader of the Briansk-Lokot Republic built an army of 10,000 to 15,000 fighters under the name of Russian People's Liberation Army, or RONA. RONA included local volunteers, as well as Soviet Army deserters and former Russian POW's who decided to switch sides rather than sit in German prisons. The militia took part in several anti-partisan operations in the Orel region, Belorussia and the Siewsk-Dmitrowsk region.

In July of 1944 RONA was reorganized and became a Waffen-SS Brigade RONA. A month after that, about 1,700 RONA soldiers under the command of Major Yurii Frolov fought with other Waffen SS troops against the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto during the famous Uprising. The Jews killed 400 RONA fighters during the Uprising, including Major Frolov.

RONA barbarism did not extend merely to Jews, but to other civilians as well, robbing, raping and murdering innocent Poles and anyone else they came across. In August 1944, Kaminski was arrested and executed by Germans because of the crimes he was committing against civilians by RONA. Rumors circulated that Kaminski and/or his men raped and robbed two German women.

The RONA Brigade was then reorganized as the 29th Waffen-SS Division, but was shut down within a couple of months due to the unreliability of if soldiers. About 3,000-4,000 fighters who were part of RONA at the time were incorporated into another group, known as the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), under the leadership of General Andrey Vlasov.

ROA - The Good Nazi Collaborators?

Like Bronislav Kaminiski, Vlasov too fought for the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. In the 1930's, he was among the few Soviet General who survived Stalin's purges and became one of the leader's most trusted advisors. Indeed, when Germany invaded the USSR, Vlasov was the man who was given two key missions - defending Kiev and Moscow. He was also charged with breaking the siege of Leningrad, but the mission failed.

When Gen. Vlasov was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1942, he expressed a willingness to organize and lead a pro-Axis Russian army. He published flyers against Stalin, leading to thousands of Soviet troops crossing the battle lines.

However, Hitler did not trust the Russians. At one point, Wehrmacht reported to Hitler that there were about 1 million Soviet citizens collaborating with Germany (most of them were not connected to Vlasov, and many were spies and civilian collaborators, rather than soldiers). In response, the Fuhrer decided to move many Russian volunteer fighters to the Western front, believing they are unreliable and untrustworthy. Many Russians were on guard on D-Day and quickly surrendered to the U.S. and Britain because of the lack of support they've received from Berlin.

Gen. Vlassov, meanwhile, also argued that he should become the head of a pro-German government in the Soviet Union once Stalin is overthrown. Together with other Russian Generals and high-ranking officers who defected, he organized the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples Russian, issuing the Prague Manifesto and other statements that accused the Soviet regime of genocide, repression, engineering famine and suppression of personal freedoms.

The Prague Manifesto also called for freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly. While it did contain rhetoric against the U.S. and Britain, such as charges of plutocracy (the rule of the wealthy) and support of Stalin, the manifesto rejected German pressure to include anti-Semitic and racist language, and even incorporated the language of self-determination for all the ethnic groups living under the Soviet yoke, including Ukrainians, Belorussians, Baltic nations, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyks, etc. Furthermore, the document called for the elimination of collective farms in favor of private land ownership.

Facing terrible losses, Hitler was finally persuaded by Heinrich Himmler to allow Vlasov to establish a 10-division Russian Liberation Army or ROA. However, by the end of the war, only one division was fully created and another was incomplete and did not take part in any battles. On April 11, 1945, ROA engaged the Soviet troops in a battle. Despite losing to a much larger foe, none of the ROA fighters defected - while 300 Soviet soldiers switched sides to join Gen. Vlasov's men.

Vlasov then switched sides once again, this time trying to join the United States, hoping it will see Stalin as the enemy and ROA as the means to battle bring down communism.

To prove his worth to Americans, Gen. Vlassov sent his soldiers to attack the Nazi SS which was ordered to destroy Prague. After saving the city, the General and his troops headed west, hoping to get asylum from Americans in order to avoid a sure-death if he were to be captured by the Soviets. But America, as well as Britain, did not want to help a Nazi-collaborator at the expense of what was still their Russian ally. Vlassov's requests for asylum were denied and he was hanged by the Soviet Union on August 2, 1946.